I’m not too big on Doctrine, but much more focused on the practical. When a person looks outside of themselves, or up to the heavens and prays, it is God. No differentiation except in the written or oral interpretations of God’s Divinity. Native Americans believe in many ‘spirits’. Each is an embodiment of God, just as Nature is an embodiment of God. As someone in the Muslim world wisely said to me recently, ‘we all have the same father and mother’.

The ‘your God, my God’ argument is ludicrous and goes against the very concept of a ‘religion’. In the same vein, the fear or belief in a heaven or hell, or of an afterlife, is less important than your actions on a second by second basis as long as you are alive. I don’t subscribe to the traditional Christian belief that in order to achieve a Divine right after death you must ‘know’ Christ. I do believe you must ‘know’ Christ, but not necessarily as the New Testament persona.

IMO, to ‘know’ Christ is to ‘know’ love. So that even an aborigine in the outback of Australia can achieve a Divinity after death because they are good people in life and know love. I also very much believe in a ‘Living Christ’. Which means Christ never died on the cross, although his Earthly body at some point did ‘die’. But he is as alive today as he ever was. There are those that see and know him and those that don’t.

My religious and spiritual philosophic beliefs are not mainstream by any means, but I spent many years searching and talking to people all over the world and was enlightened by the quest for my own world view while I was in college. I did not really recognize the implications until I was at rock bottom. I was broke, without lights and what seemed like no direction to go in. In other words I was completely in the dark. I remember the moment of enlightenment clearly. I was told by a Rastafarian acquaintance to look inside of myself first.

It may sound simplistic, but it was at that moment I experienced both God and Christ as I never had before then. It wasn’t until decades years later, only recently, that I had another moment of deep religious philosophic clarity. My more recent religious experience was realizing the importance of Mary Magdalene in the story of Christ. What is most important in the story of Christ is not the Resurrection on the cross, nor is it the Salvation as many Christians believe. The most important teaching of Christ is ‘to teach others how to teach enlightenment’. It’s that simple. Do that every second of every day and you will achieve the Divinity of the Living Christ, and God’s love. Eternally.

BLM (Black Lives Matter) is a case study in irony. While they promote their cause that black lives matter, they also seem to endorse the fact that white lives do not. A hateful and certainly racist opinion, no doubt.

I cannot (and do not) believe that the majority of intelligent black Americans believe in this violent hatred. I give them much more credit than all of the current stupidity and idiocy. I do recognize the fact that there is a significant minority of vengeful black racists that insist on violent civil disobedience and on fueling the fires of hatred. In effect, promoting killing and death.

And I do very much feel that Barack Obama has further fueled the hatred instead of endorsing unity and peace, as many truly believed he would. Despite what any of my friends may think or feel (or anyone else) – – – he is a failure. He had the opportunity to unite and heal. Instead he chose to further promote exclusivity, elitism, segregating protectionist legislation, divisiveness and hatred. It is a direct reflection of his lack of character and continued incompetence.

The reality for all of us is that BLM and any other groups promoting such hatred are no different than the Ku Klux Klan, or foreign terrorist organizations. War is easy to incite. Just about anyone can do it. Peace, on the other hand, is a cause that has to be worked on every single day. It is an arduous and often long term process with miraculous results.

I applaud all of my friends and celebrities such as Ringo Starr that are promoting peace. But unfortunately, in order to have peace you must FIGHT hatred. Promoting peace and love is all good and well, but without fighting ignorance, hatred and violence it means nothing.

God Bless and guide with strength the families of those brave American heroes that died in the line of duty protecting our freedoms and our rights to live peacefully. And have mercy on the family of the misguided young man that committed the barbarous acts of evil, under the guise of hateful groups and individuals such as Black Lives Matter.

I have been living mostly in the Middle East for the past five years. My home and family are in the USA. I calmly listen to the mostly uninformed opinions, both right and left, of my friends and family back home. I post my responses and my tidbits of personal experience and insight for them on social media. Their experience of the world is CNN, Fox, MSNBC, the mainstream outlets or NPR and PBS. A few of them may have ventured on vacation to a resort in Mexico or the Caribbean, and even fewer may have ever been to Europe or another country outside of North America.

There is ignorance and hate across the Middle East. Just as there is ignorance and hatred in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, the Balkans, South America, Central America and North America, including the USA. There are groups of extremists in almost all Muslim countries. Some governments are much stricter than others. There are other Muslims that aren’t violent extremists. But they do accept what I consider to be the ignorant and superstitious Islamic beliefs that condone violence against others, including women and children and members of their own families.

I consider any Muslim that still believes in the extreme forms of punishment, or the disrespect of the rights of women and children, to be an accomplice to an ignorant abomination . . . of any religion. And actually, it is no religion at all. It is not a religion or belief system that the God I know would approve of. There are many more millions of Muslims you never hear about. They are the ones that live in the peaceful areas of many countries and they live their lives much like you and I. Without all the extreme idiocy the media is so quick to focus on. They work hard day in and day out to feed and clothe their families. And to provide a safe roof over their heads so their children can do the same for their own families someday.

Yet, we must never stop reporting on the ignorance and hatred, including the ignorance and hatred of extremist Muslims in Europe, America and other predominantly non-Muslim countries. They have to be called out every day. Most important, other Muslims need to raise their voices and communicate to the ignorant and superstitious Muslims, that Islam needs to live peacefully with all the other religions of this Earth. This must be the priority, the goal and the destiny of the religion. As it always should be.

At the same time, Western leaders should never deny the fact that there are violent Muslims and also other Muslim extremists that are a constant danger to all of the rest of the world. They must understand that when Islamic communities are isolated within Western countries and allowed to do whatever they want, there will be hatred, extremism and violence. You can not throw two radically different culturally, economically and religious groups together and expect them to peacefully integrate within a single decade. This productive peaceful integration will often take decades and in some historical cases throughout the world, centuries. Education is always the most powerful weapon we have against ignorance. Education is also the most powerful weapon we have against poverty, always.

Be always on your guard. This is not the quiet mostly peaceful world of yesterday. The media and technology have unleashed the Frankenstein of Mary Shelley’s most excellent and prophetic novel. Tolerance, freedom and liberty must always be accompanied by a very strong and intense dose of respect for others. Seek the truth.

Religious choice is not an argument. Religion is not about rejecting. It is about accepting. I have seen and met many Christians and Muslims that are very devout and go to church, or pray five times a day. They all follow all the customs and traditions. Yet most of the time they treat other people like dirt.

Religion is a set of doctrines that outlines a belief system. In the end, even though religion does provide a crutch, and even though it does offer solace and charity to many around the world, it is also a major source of divisiveness, hatred and violence.

Religion is mostly a behavioral system. But you don’t need religion to abide by a valuable behavioral system. The most important behavioral values are as old as mankind and will continue to be valuable in perpetuity. They never change and they never diminish in importance, no matter what else is going on in the world.

The 12 Lakota Virtues are a very good example. Prayer is one more of the virtues. If you read these carefully, you will recognize how they are embedded in the parables and teachings of all other religions.

Religion is also a meditative philosophy. The Buddhists consider meditation a form of prayer. Christian, Muslim and Judaic prayers all strive to achieve a unity with God or a higher Divinity. Prayer is a powerful life force because it focuses energy on positive results. Which is also why unselfish prayer very often does work.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all based on the Old Testament Bible. Many of the core stories in the Old Testament Bible are based on Sumerian mythology. The Old Testament Bible was also based on the writing of at least 4 different authors, rewriting the work of other authors, and then edited and interpreted by more authors in the early Vatican. The New Testament and the Quran were both interpretations of oral or written perceptions both authored, well after the deaths of Christ and Mohammed. And then reinterpreted by the Vatican, or Imams and religious leaders over the centuries.

Ascribing to a religion is less important than ascribing to a behavioral code. Buddhism and Hinduism believe that what you do now will determine the position you will be in when you return to life on Earth. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all believe that what you do here on Earth will determine your salvation in ‘heaven’ or ‘paradise’ after death. They all employ either reincarnation, heaven, or paradise, to influence how to behave while here on Earth.

How you treat others every second of every day is more important than doctrines, churches, Mosques, Synagogues, heaven, the next life, or paradise. How you treat others every second of every day is more important than religion.

Several years ago an ancient manuscript was found in two different places that claimed to be the Gospel of Mary Magdalene. Although pieces of both manuscripts were missing, it revealed an amazing Truth. Mary Magdalene was very close to Christ and after Christ died she told the other Apostles that Christ had revealed to her a message that he had not revealed to the others.

Several of the Apostles did not at first believe her. It illustrates how women were often judged not equal to men in preaching the Word of the Gospel. This continued for generations, supported by the Catholic Church and up to this very day. But it also provides the most critical revelation. The importance of the teachings of Christ is not so much about the ‘resurrection’, nor is the primary importance about ‘eternal life and the abolition of original sin’. The most important revelation from the teachings of Christ is simply ‘to learn how to teach others how to teach enlightenment‘.

Religion is a personal journey. It is a personal revelation. Religion is enlightenment. Knowledge is enlightenment. Knowledge combined with wisdom is true enlightenment. Research all religions. Understand why they believe what they do. Show compassion for others and for their beliefs. Learn to develop a conscious dialog with the Divinity of existence. Treat other people with respect, kindness and compassion . . . always.

Learn to do these things and you will never need organized religion. Yet you will feel comfortable in any religious gathering, assembly, or structure you will ever visit.

The idiot is never equal to the genius!

There are three reasons why socialism will never work, neither as a philosophy, nor as a viable political system of government.

First, the idiot is never equal to the genius. Socialism assumes we are all equal. We are not. This is why a productive, intelligent person gets paid more than a sloth.

Second, when you compensate the productive, intelligent person, the same as the sloth, you have no incentives for creativity or productivity. In short, the genius will live and perform like the sloth because the rewards will not differ.

And third, much like a democracy, when given the opportunity to advance at the expense of others there is an inherent tendency in human behavior to gravitate toward greed. In a Socialist system you always have to have ‘the distributor‘. This is the one person or group that is given the responsibility to ‘distribute‘ resources. And like many governments and countries today throughout the world, the concept of ‘one for you, and one for me’, soon morphs into ‘half for you, three for me and I’ll sell you another half for a price‘.

The difference between the two systems, Democracy and Socialism, is that with Democracy citizens have the power to change things no matter how diluted the capabilities may sometimes be. In Socialism, you don’t have a vote. You don’t have the right to protest, and you certainly don’t have the right to change the system. You are stuck with the results every time.

All attempts at partial Socialism have failed because the philosophies of Democracy and Socialism are at odds with each other. They are complete opposites and two completely different ways of thinking. They cannot be ‘gracefully merged’ in a social system or political. And they cannot be ‘intertwined’ in an economic system.

Communism is the bureaucratic implementation of Socialism. It augments the Socialist ‘dream‘ with ‘youth brigades’, ‘party elders’, and ‘neighborhood vigilante squads’. It is a forceful extension of the concept of Socialism with a dictatorial bureaucracy built to assure all the servants are abiding by the strict rules of the State. It creates a burgeoning bureaucracy, complex enough to make any bourgeois bureaucrat proud.

It has never been implemented successfully because it is a philosophic, economic and idealistic FAILURE.

The Khawaarij (Kharijites) are one of the deviant sects, as is proven by the texts and by scholarly consensus. Al-Bukhaari and Muslim narrated that Yusayr ibn ‘Amr said: I said to Sahl ibn Hunayf: Did you hear the Prophet say anything about the Khawaarij? He said: I heard him say – and he gestured with his hand towards Iraq –: “From there will emerge people who recite the Qur’an, but it will not go past their collarbones. They will pass out of Islam as an arrow passes out of the prey.”

Ibn Maajah narrated that Ibn Abi Awfa said: The Messenger of Allah said: “The Khawaarij are the dogs of Hell.”

Where did such a violent ideology presumably based on a religion spring from?

Who Were The Kharijites?

Who exactly were the Kharijites? They were an early offshoot of Islam that developed during the civil war between the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin Ali and the governor of Damascus Mu’awiyah.

The Muslim state enjoyed relative stability under the caliphates of Abu Bakr and Umar ibn Al Khattab. During the caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan, the third Caliph, discord began to seep into the state. This discord ultimately resulted in the assassination of Uthman by renegades. A dispute, then, arose over the succession of Uthman: some supported Ali, the Prophet’s cousin, and others supported Mu’awiyah, the governor of Damascus and Uthman’s relative.

This dispute culminated in the Battle of Siffin in 657. The initial battle went against Mu’awiayh. When he directed his forces to place copies of the Qur’an on their lances, indicating their desire to submit to binding arbitration “based on the Qur’an,” the forces of Ali refused to fight. Once the terms of the arbitration were set, a group of Muslims objected to the whole principle of arbitration and rebelled against both Ali and Mu’awiyah. These were the Kharijites. They declared them infidels worthy of murder. Even though Ali defeated most of them at the Battle of Nahrawan in 658, a group survived and ultimately assassinated Ali in 661.

Kharijite beliefis a form of radical fundamentalism. As noted in the Wikipedia entry, “They preached uncompromising adherence to the teachings of the Qur’an in defiance of corrupt authorities.” They also preached “absolute equality of the faithful” and maintained that “only the most pious should be caliph…even if he were an Abyssinian slave (the lowest social class of the era).” They spread their ideology violently, declaring anyone who does not believe as they do – even those who committed any major sins – as “infidels,” whose blood is allowed to be shed. They committed many atrocities against fellow Muslims, including the hacking to death of one of the governor’s of Ali and his pregnant wife.

The radical and violent extremists of today act very much like the Kharijites of old. They claim to commit their evil in the name of God and doing righteousness, just like the Kharijites of old. They believe that those who do not espouse their radical views as “infidels” worthy of death, just like the Kharijites of old. They have committed – and continue to commit – horrific acts of violence against fellow Muslims, just like the Kharijites of old.

So how are the Khawarij connected to modern day terrorists? It is because their brutal and violent sect continues to this very day. They have evolved into a very powerful modern faction that also claims Islam as their religious base. This group is very powerful in Saudi Arabia and has been the driving force behind extremist terrorist activities in the Middle East, the United States and many other nations throughout the world for at least the past fifty years. They also have very wealthy financiers connected with oil profits in the Middle East and now also in other parts of the world. Who are these dogs of war?

They refer to themselves as the Wahhabi sect of Islam. Although in reality, many of their ideals and practices are far from traditional Islam. Like the Khawarij, they renounce Idolatry. So they have destroyed significant archaeological and Muslim historical sites on the Saudi peninsula over the years. Let me be clear. The entire Saudi government and people are not Wahabi. But the Wahabi sect has had siginificant influence on both the government and the people throughout their history. It is one of the reasons the country is so extreme in the control of peoples lives.

There are many examples of Wahabis extending their tentacles into sensitive areas of the world to increase their attempts at world domination. I don’t use that term lightly. I know it sounds like a script from the The Man From U.N.C.L.E or a James Bond chapter, but there is a significant truth to it. It has even been written that the Wahabi sect was originally created by the British to reinforce their power in the world.

One other fact is certain. And it answers the question of why radical sects claiming to be Muslim have taken such a strong foothold in the USA and especially strong in areas like Michigan. In the late 60’s and early 70’s, the wealthy oil-rich Saudi Wahabis strategically provided funding to establish Mosques to preach their radical form of religion throughout the USA starting in Chicago. Chicago at the time was the home of The Nation of Islam. And although The Nation of Islam had little to do with real Islam, a young prodigy named Malcom X was increasing their following by the thousands. This seemed a perfect seeding ground for the Wahabis.

And it was. They continued to seed Mosques throughout the USA and provided educational funding to young black ‘prospects’. I won’t make any connection to any current government leader in the USA, but the connections do exist, concealed away as they might be. Eventually Malcolm X made a trip to Mecca and realized some Muslims actually had blonde hair and blue eyes, and everybody got along just fine without the divisive practices so prevalent and endorsed in the USA. Malcolm decided to break with The Nation of Islam and their heretic leader, Louis Farrakhan. A few weeks later he was assassinated. I won’t make the connection, but others have done so quite convincingly.

But the Wahhabis continued to seed and preach their radical hate in Mosques they funded and built throughout the USA and later in England, France and other European nations. Eventually they spread the hate to other countries in Africa, Asia, and throughout the Middle East. But don’t take my word for it. Do the research yourself. Please keep in mind, not all Saudis are Wahabis and not all Wahabis are terrorists. But the ideology and it’s spread throughout the world has created an environment of hate and violence. This is not the peace and love of any religion we know of.

Here are a few links for further reading and research. I did some of the filtering for you as there is an abundance of some information and a scarcity of others.

Finally, I conclude with an article on the importance and adherence to Wahabi philosophy within Daesh and an article on the Genghis Kahn tactics of Daesh. And a recent sobering article on why Daesh has initiated their own self-destruction.

I hope this essay has been productive for anyone that delves into it. The better we understand the ideology we are fighting, the better we are prepared to educate on an ideology that not only conquers the evil, but also fortifies a much better worldview for everyone exploring or undecided. The only way to win the war is to win through ideology. Violence, hatred and the torture and killing of innocent people is wrong. This is an ideologic value that is thousands of years old. Much older than any distorted pseudo-religious and warped, man construed doctrine of ignorance. Those that survive the battlefield will be held accountable for their cruelty and callous disregard for human life. All actions contrary to Mohamed, Christ, Buddha, God and Allah.

God has no preference between a man and a woman. They are both equal in the eyes of God. God has no preference between a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim and a Buddhist. They are all equal in the eyes of God as long as they respect the creation of God’s Nature. The laws of God are universal and timeless. The interpretations of God’s laws by men are often flawed and selfish. Prophets are good people because they interpret the laws of God to men in a fair and just way. And they are at times, both exalted and persecuted, because they dole out fairness and justice to all men equally. But not all men consider themselves equal to other men in their own eyes.

Religions have killed in the name of God for thousands of years. Even Atheism has killed millions. Religious conversion has often been forced at the end of the sword or the gun. The concept itself is contrary to religious dogma. To believe and have faith in God is a personal and voluntary decision. If religion has to be forced upon someone, it is no longer religion. It becomes politics. Politics is a dogmatic belief created by men to impose their own idealistic idiosyncrasies upon others.

Recently, we have been daunted by ‘terrorism’. Men have terrorized each other, also for thousands of years. ‘Evolution’ is a gradual change over time. ‘Revolution’ is an abrupt social change forced by human political activity. It is important to differentiate between violent revolution and peaceful revolution. Peaceful revolution uses peaceful means to inspire dynamic change in a society. Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King were peaceful revolutionaries. They distinctly instructed their followers not to incite violence. Peaceful revolutions create long term change that develops firm roots within a social structure. They do so, because the social structure is mostly in agreement with the implemented changes.

Violent revolutions are short lived. Because similar to forcing religion upon someone, the ‘idealism’ will not be personal, nor will it be voluntary. So the political or religious facade will be discarded at the earliest opportune time. We have many examples of this in recent history. Two of the more significant instances is the failure of the Bolshevik Revolution with the fall of the USSR, and the failure of Mao’s Great Plan with the introduction of Capitalism in China.

A more recent example of a violent revolutionary that has killed millions is Castro’s crony Argentinian friend, Ernesto Guevara. His violent ideology and homicidal tactics continue to be idolized throughout the third world and in countries where some groups gravitate toward him as a ‘heroic’ figure. Heroic he is not. His actual claim to fame is as a mass murderer. His philosophy and early tactics soon inspired and activated other terrorist organizations to mimic and augment his callous violence toward humanity.

Targets were no longer strictly soldiers and warriors on the honorable battlefield. The days of respect among generals and for each others fallen soldiers ended with the bearded devil. And continues with other modern bearded demons. In many Muslim areas throughout the world, groups of fanatical and often violent individuals have incited the same senseless violence against innocent people. Without honor, without compassion and without tolerance, which are three of the most important foundations of all religions.

All of these groups have at least one thing in common. They all consider themselves devout followers of Islam. The truth is, they are all Islamic heretics, prostituting the cleanliness of Islam into a Satanic abomination of evil. They are the merciless. And they continue to taunt and kill the merciful.

Arrows Missing The Target – Part Two

Living in the Middle East I have met hundreds of Muslims from all over the world. Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Somalia, Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Turkey, Armenia, Uzbekistan, and others. All of the people I have met are good people. They just want to work an honest job to feed their families. And be able to go to sleep safely to get up the next day and do it again.

Everyone I’ve spoken to wants the same exact thing. But there are those out there, as small a minority as they might be, that would prefer to force their ideals and their values on others through force. This is the evil in the world. And it is easy to recognize. Unless sometimes when the evil comes from the lips of a Rabbi or a Priest or an Imam. Their position as an intermediary to God, gives them undisputed credibility in the eyes of many people that are less than grounded in a solid foundation of belief.

So I had to understand WHY this happened. And that is when I started to research. Eventually I found three connections that completely explained the answers I was seeking. But they were not evident. They were not widely discussed or covered by the media. In fact, the opposite was true. The information was meticulously kept concealed. Finding the answers required sifting through volumes of misinformation and discovering carefully hidden historical facts.

It’s almost time for me to head back home
but today I feel a darkness creeping
across the globe dark forces seeping
they find the holes when I am sleeping
or when I am not fighting them and keeping
them on the defensive.
They are greedy green mean machines.
Real powers and real forces. There are those that
don’t believe me. They don’t see them every day.
So they give them holidays, so they can do what they may, and take away, more of what you pay and pay. They do not understand that only they can stop them. But they must fight them every day. Without a holiday. Believe what I say.
Drugs you don’t need.
Healing plants you can’t have.
Poisons in your food to make you pay.
Wars and weapons to pay and pay in lives.
Watching and listening, taking away your dignity,
your humanity, your joy.
Tricks to fool you, pay you to work,
then take your money away.
You never own anything. They own you.
You can stop them.
You must stop them.
Stop the banks from stealing.
Stop the companies from cheating.
Stop the people from lying.
Stop the government from killing.
Love.
Love is not religion.
Love is not a competition.
Love is not waiting for the reward.
Love is Nature.